The Value of Human Life: Acknowledging and Addressing Deaths at the Hands of Police

Brought to you by RAC.org; By Claire Shimberg

According to The Guardian’s investigation, the deaths of Isiah Hampton, 19, in New York City, and Quandavier Hicks, 22, in Cincinnati on Wednesday, brought the number of people killed by police in the United States in 2015 to 500. The total number includes both unarmed victims and encounters when responding violent altercations. Through a project called The Counted, The Guardian is using reports and crowd-sourcing to keep track of American deaths at the hands of law enforcement. The Counted keeps track of data such as the names, races, ages and other information about those who have died. 

The lack of official, federal reporting of the number of people who die in police custody each year represents a significant obstacle to addressing the problem. Fortunately, in late December of 2014, Congress passed the Death in Custody Reporting Act. The law mandates that all states receiving federal criminal justice assistance grants must report, by gender and race, all deaths that occur while people are in law enforcement custody- from arrest to release. Additionally, the law requires the collected data to be reported to the US Attorney General for analysis. The RAC was proud to advocate for the Death in Custody Reporting Act and is optimistic that it will increase accountability, transparency and trust between law enforcement and communities.

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The College Road Trip: #GetMeOutaHere

by: Doria Leibowitzfor FreshInkForTeens.com

Handbook of embarrassing questions? Check. New iPhone Mom can’t turn off? Check. Let the tours begin.

Parents of high school students do weird stuff. I think of mine as bears in hibernation. Freshman year, sophomore year, they just sort of read the paper, eat some porridge and ask how school was, but come junior year, and specifically spring of junior year, they awake, rise up and with a loud roar, scream: “ROAD TRIP!”

Yes, the dreaded college bonding trip with your parents. Spend three days, see five schools and connect with your parents through 500 miles in the back seat of the car, hearing them reminisce about that same exact road trip they took 30 years ago. They say it’s the ultimate bonding experience between parents and child and something not to be missed. But guys, I gotta tell you, that ride down memory lane is oh so painful for the child. There are lots of stories and rekindled memories, but do I really want to know the exact tree where my uncle threw up 30 years ago or where my dad ... well, you get the idea.

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‘App’solutely Atrocious

by: Chayala Nachum for FreshInkForTeens.com

A Shabbos App overrides Shabbat prohibitions, but this teen doesn’t want a day of rest to become a day of text.

In this century, when technology advances with lightning speed, we tend to forget about a different time, when things like Shabbos timers and electric ovens were nonexistent. This may come as a shock, but not so long ago, people lived without electricity or running water and they had to make Shabbos. Seems impossible. But our ancestors managed just fine.

Now this may be stroke-inducing information, but the world should know the truth: cell phones with the capability for texting were nonexistent 20 years ago. There are many survivors living today who led normal, productive lives before the invention of this life-sustaining device. Our parents, and even some of us, lived in a world without texting or touch-screens (and most amazingly, candy crush.)

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The Roots of Anti-Semitism

by: Lizzie Zakaim for FreshInkForTeens.com

Trying to understand why every Jewish generation faces an evil Pharaoh.

 “I really wanna drive around Lakewood and run over every Jew with my car.” Imagine logging onto Twitter and seeing this post. Or imagine seeing another picture on Twitter of a teenage girl dressed as Hitler, complete with a mustache and swastika, giving the “heil Hitler” salute. These anti-Semitic and neo-Nazi posts are real. They were written by New Jersey teens and “featured images of swastikas, Nazi salutes and included references to bombing and running over Jews in Lakewood [New Jersey],” according to a USA Today article.

The photographs accompanying the tweets, taken by teenagers in a nearby town, are quite startling because of the imagery and the fact that they were posted by teens who live driving distance from me. “The Ocean County Prosecutor’s Office did not file charges against the teens, finding that their actions did not pose a credible threat…But [Senator Robert] Menendez wants the Justice Department to ensure that the tweets do not pose a threat to public safety or homeland security,” according to the article.

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A Mother’s Sickness, A Daughter’s Revelation

by: Hudis Lang for FreshInkForTeens.com

Coping with my mother’s illness makes me appreciate life and my loved ones.

The florescent lights glared on the tile floors, and the gray walls of the waiting room surrounded me and my mom. I glanced at my mother — or at least she looked like my mother. It all seemed so casual, I was sitting next to my mom waiting for her to be called for her daily radiation treatment. Realizing where I was and who I was with, I leaned over and gave her a small hug. I hoped that even though her memory was fading, she would still remember I loved her. While in the waiting room something inside me had changed. I had a new perspective on life.

Rewind to two weeks before this, I was sitting in class checking my phone, just like any other day. However, this time it was different. I looked down and I saw that my oldest sister had texted me — an odd and rare occurrence. The text was extremely long and had been sent to everyone in my family. I began to read and the words seemed to slip off the screen and started to circle around my head. I could not quite grasp what was going on, nor did I want to. All I wanted was to delete the text like it never was sent. I did not want to comprehend what was written. I ran out of the classroom holding back my tears as I began to make sense of what I had just been told.

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